Exploring Neelum Valley (10-13 July)

[imarshad]

Finally we reached Shonter valley/lake at about 6:00 PM. It was almost a three hour journey from Kel.
Shonter Lake:
Well it is a very very small lake as compared to other lakes. Even the shonter nala was not coming from this lake. The beauty of this place is not in the lake but the surroundings.... I have to admit it was the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. A lush green huge valley with a green colored lake and most importantly the excellent snow covered Hari Parbat and Shonter Peak.

Pics of the lake:

[imarshad]

The valley was lush green although a bit damp. But it was huge almost 2 KM in length.

Shonter Nala in the background of the valley.

Words can't explain how beautiful the valley was. I wish I had a camera with Panoramic stitching capability to capture the complete beauty of this area.

[imarshad]

More beautiful views of the valley...

Colorful flowers in the valley.

[imarshad]

Now some pics of the Hari Parbat which is the specialty of this area.

Hari Parbat

Tried to take a somewhat zoomed picture of the mountain

[imarshad]

The other mountain was called Shontar Mountain by the local jeep driver. It was also another beautiful mountain and its shape was somewhat similar to K2.

[imarshad]

This brings to an end the pics of Shonter valley trip. I will try to post the Taobut (Gurez valley) trip pictures tomorrow.
In the meantime looking forward to your replies on the pics so far.

[K-A-M-R-A-N]

Great Job. What else should I say man?

[oodbalow]

Excellent trip n pics.....well done

[imarshad]

and now I will be posting pics of the last leg of the journey i.e Kel-Taobut.

[imarshad]

Details of the day:
We left Kel early in the morning i.e 6 AM.
Reached Taobut at about 10 AM.
Spend 1.5 hours there.
Left Taobut at 11:30 AM and reached Kel at 3 PM
Left Kel at about 4 PM and reached Dowarian at 07:30 PM and stayed the night there.

[imarshad]

Just after leaving Kel there was a landsliding on the Taobut track. We all helped ourselves to clear the path by throwing the stones into the Neelum river.
I have an excellent video of this event. I will try to upload it on youtube and post the link here.

Kel visible in the background.

[imarshad]

The real beauty of Neelum valley starts after passing Kel towards Taobut. It is a very remote area which is only accessible by jeaps/4WD trucks etc.

[Bombaywalla]

Pristine. Let's hope the area remains this way.

Beautiful shots, amrshad. Thanks for sharing.

[imarshad]

This was a beautiful small town before Janwai. I can't remember its name but it was so beautiful with a Nala coming down.

The Spring with crystal clear (But very cold) water.

[imarshad]

Beautiful scenery

Jeep track with stones almost covering the road.

Another Nala Joining the River.

[imarshad]

This is the town of Janwai or Folwai. I cant remember which one it was.

[imarshad]

The small town of Sardari. It is mostly famous for wooden houses.
The wood used in these houses is worth several lakhs in Punjab/Sindh etc. But they have abundant wood.

[imarshad]

More scenery between Sardari and Halmat.

This Jungle on the other side of the river is called Nilsar Forest. It is a very large forest and its span is almost 40 KM. It has to be the most untouched part of the area. I wish I could someday do camping in these wilderness and spend weeks there.

[imarshad]

We reached Halmat at about 0900 AM. It is the biggest town/settlement after Janwai and Kel.

[imarshad]

We took our Tea/Breakfast at Halmat.

Leaving Halmat and moving towards Taobut.